Tension hung heavy in the air as the tram emerged from the warp gate on the other side. Shandra felt unease building up inside her as it ground to halt. The doors slid open and the team stepped out onto the platform. Looking around the room, Shandra spotted a few crates scattered across the floor, but there was nothing else of much note to be seen.

“No one here either,” Arlon observed as he stepped down from the platform. “I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s not waste any more time standing around. The sooner we can get out of here the better.” The Red Suns’ leader walked up to a door on the right side of the room and attempted to open it. “Damn, it’s locked. Let’s try the other one.”

“No,” Dmitri told the girl. “I sense something… A presence… It’s the same feeling I got when we encountered Darkrai.”

“Darkrai?” Arlon asked.

“It’s a long story,” Shandra told the mercenary. “One we definitely don’t have time to tell.”

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“Speaking of which, what are we just standing around for?” Arlon asked.

“Yes,” H agreed. “Let us proceed!”

“Just hold on a minute,” Dmitri said as the cyborg began walking to the door on the left. “There’s a very powerful aura here. I can feel it pressing against mine. If we’re not careful we’ll end up like those people we found outside the Mirrored Temple.”

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Shandra felt Alex’s grip tighten at the mention of that name. “Well, what do you suggest we do then?” she asked.

“Let me see if I can extend my aura to you guys,” Dmitri said. “Whatever connection I have with Darkrai is keeping me safe.” The Romanov closed his eyes in concentration and extended his hands out.

Slowly, Shandra felt an energy pass through her. She felt the uneasiness that she hadn’t even noticed festering in the back of her mind subside. Dmitri had been right. There was a presence that Shandra hadn’t been able to sense until the Romanov had dissipated it.

The lights flickered a bit as the team moved through the door into a narrow corridor. Pressing onward to the end, they arrived at another closed door. H walked up to the door and tried to push the door open. Shandra sighed and shook her head as she watched the cyborg struggle with the door. Determining it could not be opened by pushing, H then attempted to pull it open.

“You have to press the button on the console, you idiot,” Alex finally pointed out. The girl walked over to the console next to the door and pressed the button. The door began to whir as it struggled to open. It sparked a couple times and, eventually, it slid open, although not very smoothly at all.

Arlon took point as the team stepped into the dimly lit room. The Red Suns’ leader quickly scanned the room with his pistols while the others filed in behind him. Looking around for herself, Shandra determined that they were in the station’s living quarters. Several beds lined the walls on one side and in one corner there was a small kitchenette and a table. A viewport provided a view of a dense red nebula. The bodies of two scientists lay sprawled out on the floor amongst the broken bits of pipes and wires were scattered across it.

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Original image source could not be found

There was also a pair of damaged Genesect lying with the debris. One was heavily damaged and lay in a mangled and twisted, and heavily damaged, the other intact, eyes flickering on and off. “Ah, more specimens!” H exclaimed upon seeing them. “Wonderful!”

Dmitri pulled out a Great Ball and threw it at the badly damaged Genesect. Unfortunately, the capture failed, and the Pokemon emerged. It’s eyes started to flicker a bit, showing signs that it was still somewhat functional, and sparks flew out from its mangled form, but it remained otherwise motionless.

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“Hmm, that didn’t work,” H grumbled. “I suggest we just sever their heads so we’re safe and then take these back with us.” The cyborg walked up to the Genesect and brought it offline as he had described. He then moved onto the next and did the same. “Excellent,” he said. “I will take these back to the tram.” He grabbed hold of the two Genesect husks and began to drag them out of the room, back through the door through which the team had entered.

While waiting for H to return, Shandra watched the rest of the team move about the room. Dmitri searched through the personal footlockers near each bed and Alex approached a nearby computer terminal while Arlon looked around the room, surveying the damage. “What the bloody hell happened here?” the mercenary asked as he pushed a broken pipe off one of the scientists’ bodies with his foot.

“Hey, guys, I found a map,” Alex announced before they could continue discussing. Shandra felt her Pokex buzz, so she pulled it out to see that Alex had sent her the map she had just downloaded.

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“Nice work,” Shandra told the girl as she looked over the map. It displayed an unsurprisingly symmetrical layout with two corridors leading out from the tram platform into two larger rooms, one of which the team was currently standing in. Two more corridors lead out from those rooms and met in the middle, at the opposite end of the station from the tram. The entrance to a room at the center of the facility stood where the corridors joined.

“I bet whatever Mr. Silver is hiding here is in that central room,” Arlon said as he looked over the map for himself.

“I bet you’re right,” Shandra agreed.

A few moments later, H returned and the team moved on into the next corridor. They passed by several even more badly damaged Genesect and arrived at a large security door leading to the central room. Alex approached the door and attempted to hack it open, but without success. “This door is locked down pretty tight,” the girl explained.

“That’s what this is for.” The cyborg pulled out a vial of the oxygenation solution the crew used on Messina and injected himself with it.

“Alright then,” Shandra said. She had to admit that H’s foresight was rather impressive. As she approached the door to the breached room, Shandra turned back to the others. “You may want to go back to the other room,” she warned them.

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Once the others had cleared out, Shandra hit the button on the door console. A warning light on the door flashed and it refused to open. Shandra quickly hacked into the console and overrode the warning. The air in the corridor rushed past Shandra and H out into the vacuum as the door slid open.

As she stepped into the room, the first thing to grab Shandra’s attention was a large breach in the station’s hull. Gazing around the room, she also spotted another Genesect lying on the floor, severed in half by the emergency blast doors that presumably closed when the hull was breached. Completing her quick scan of the room, Shandra noticed a set of consoles along the wall. That must be the override, she thought. Shandra took a step toward the consoles and motioned H to follow.

Shandra checked one of the consoles while her cybernetic crewmate checked another. Looking through the files, she found a series of badly degraded video logs from the scientists who worked at the facility. These might be useful, Shandra thought after taking a brief glance at one. She downloaded what few logs she was able to salvage from the damaged console then moved onto the next.

“Found it,” Shandra told H upon accessing the console. The override for the security door was right there on the screen. Before she pressed the button, Shandra quickly checked the security cameras just to be safe. Through the horribly flickering video feed, she saw what looked to be some sort of lab. Some objects lined the walls, but she couldn’t really make out what they were. She also noticed what looked like another dead scientist lying on the ground. However, there didn’t appear to be any immediate danger, so she pressed the security override.

With their task complete, Shandra and H returned to the corridor and sealed the door behind them. Shandra then headed back down the corridor to the door to the living quarters and knocked. “You can come out now,” she said to the rest of the team. The door slid open and Arlon, Alex, and Dmitri stepped back into the corridor. “The door’s unlocked,” Shandra told them as she started walking back toward the security door. “I also found some video logs that we should probably look at before we go in.”

Shandra pulled out her Pokedex and brought the logs up. “The console was pretty badly damaged,” she explained. “I only managed to find three that were still intact.” The first was dated a few years back while the other two were much more recent. The second was from the previous month and the third was from only a couple weeks ago. Shandra selected the first and it began to play.

Large metal and glass pods with people inside of them lined the walls of the laboratory. The camera panned to the door to reveal a raging Gyarados inside a cage being wheeled in. Once the cage stopped moving, the scientists subdued the Gyarados, then brought it out of the cage. While it still lived, they slice it open— a living dissection. They reduced its innards to goo and pumped it through tubes, injecting it into one of the pods.

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From the corner of her eye, Shandra saw Alex looks away in disgust. She was deeply disturbed by the video, so she could only imagine how Alex must have been feeling.

Flashes and metallic sounds drowned out everything else as the scientists conducted their experiment. “Subject #14: failed,” the apparent head scientist announced. The camera turned to face him. “Subject is now deceased. Process did not stabilize. Result: lethal tumors.”

The footage continued on, showing more horrific experiments being conducted on both Pokemon and the Humans in the pods— different procedures, different means of dissection and injection, different chemical agents. Shandra shut the recording off, thoroughly disgusted by what she had seen.

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Alex fell to her knees as she began gagging violently. Seeing the girl begin to vomit, Shandra knelt down beside her to make sure she was alright. “Why?” Alex managed to sputter out once she had recovered from her fit of vomiting.

“As I’ve said before,” H said. “Pokemon are tools, and we are tools to Pokemon.”

“But- but this,” Shandra objected as she placed a comforting hand on Alex’s shoulder.

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“This is murder!” Alex screamed at H as tears dripped from her eyes into the puddle of her own vomit on the floor. “This is worse than murder!”

Shandra felt disgusted. What had happened in this lab was worse than she could have possibly imagined, and Mr. Silver was to blame. As much as she didn’t want to, Shandra knew they had to watch the other videos. After making sure that Alex was okay, the blue-haired girl stood up and started the next video.

It started off a bit garbled, but it eventually came into focus. “We received new tissue samples from our benefactor a week ago,” the head scientist explained to the camera. “Preliminary results seem very promising.” Several scientists gathered around another pod as they began preparations for another procedure. The camera zoomed in on the pod, revealing the subject in the tube to be one of the clones used in Armstrong’s experiments. “Phase one: introduce the nano-” The video cut out for a moment as it was badly degraded.

“Phase Four successful. We will begin the next stage of the project,” the head scientist announced excitedly when the video cut back in. A bright glow emanated from the pod, making it impossible to see inside.

When the video ended, Shandra glanced over at H, then silently began the next video log.

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Genesect poured into the facility through the warp gate, and many more swarmed around the outside. They moved through from room to room, slaughtering the scientists as they went. One busted through the hull from the outside into the administrative room, slamming into the door. The blast door slammed down and served it in half. The lab security door engaged. The Geneset finished slaughtering the scientists and made a move on the door. They fired several shots before faltering, turning on each other, and blasting each other to scraps.

“Well, at least we know what happened,” Arlon commented as the video ended. “Something caused them to turn on each other, and whatever it is, it’s through that door.” The mercenary hit the door console and raised his pistols. When the door finished opening, Arlon stepped through, scanning the room with his weapons.

Left with an uneasy feeling from the video logs, Shandra followed the Red Suns’ leader into the lab with her crewmates right behind her. Pods full of horribly mutated H clones lined the walls, each seemingly grafted with attributes from a different Pokemon. The body of the head scientist lay on the floor in the center of the room, a laser pistol by his head. Arlon walked over to the body and quickly examined it. “It looks like the bloody bastard shot himself,” he concluded.

“Whatever did all this must be in that room,” H said, pointing to a door on the far end of the lab.

“We should just leave,” Alex quickly responded. Shandra could hear the terror in the girl’s voice.

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“Then what was the point of coming out here?” H asked.

“We should find out what’s in there,” Dmitri said.

The Romanov began walking toward the door, but Shandra placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him from opening it. “Before we open Pandora’s Box, we should warn the others. Something very bad is in there and they should be prepared.”

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“Shandra’s right,” Arlon agreed. “We should warn them. We might need to leave in a hurry. I’ll head back to the tram and send a message back to my team.”

As Arlon departed, Shandra’s thoughts turned to the door in front of them. What could be so important that Silver and I were created to oversee their… production? The lights flickered as the tram presumably left, and Dmitri stood prodding one of the glass tubes with a candy bar. Humans and Pokemon… these scientists were trying to create something from both of them. Shandra shuddered as the thought came to her. A being with the power of a Pokemon and the knowledge of a Human, if not more so of each. The mere thought of such a thing was terrifying, and, looking at the failed experiments, it made her sick that she was once part of this unethical process.

At the sound of footsteps clanking on the metal floor of the corridor, Shandra looked back at the open security door to see Arlon walking into the room. “Alright, I sent the message through,” the mercenary announced. “Shall we?”

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As the team gathered around the door, Dmitri raised his hand to the console and presses the button. The door slid open, and Arlon stepped inside. Shandra clenched her fists and followed the Red Suns’ leader into the dimly lit room.

Shandra was not prepared for what she found in the room. Surrounded by fragments of glass from a shattered pod that lay scattered across the floor, stood a horrible, twisted hybrid of a monster; it was an abomination. This is Mr. Silver’s plan. The thought sparked through Shandra’s mind as the realization dawned on her. This is what we were designed for. She felt disgusted. The Human morality now so intricately tied to her being was horrified that the seeds of life that she had sown as the Gardener were meant to create a new generation of these abominations.

H, however, seemed impressed. “Such Brilliance!” the cyborg declared. “But fate has ruled that I never lose. I shall surpass this, and all-” His words words were cut short as the air constricted around his throat, his feet lifted off the floor. The Pokemon’s eyes locked with his.

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“Quiet, Human,” it spoke, radiating with a note of pure malice. “From now on... I am the one who makes the rules.”

Image Credit - Brian Mutschler (Although this image doesn’t appear to be uploaded anywhere anymore and the artist seems to have become inactive)

Shandra could only look on in horror as the creature choked the life out of H. The cyborg could do little more than gasp for air. Shandra felt rooted to the spot as flashes of images and long-dormant memories rushed through her mind.

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After several moments of stunned silence, it was Arlon who finally took action. The mercenary raised his pistols and opened fire, sending a flurry of laser fire flying across the room at the monstrosity standing before him. However, it was all for naught as the creature simply lifted a hand and raised a psionic barrier around itself, deflecting Arlon’s shots away like nothing.

“Fall back!” the Red Suns’ leader ordered the team as he reached for a Pokeball. He released his Hydreigon and jumped onto the Pokemon’s back. “Go! I’ll cover you!”

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Following the mercenary’s command, Alex bolted out of the room and across the adjacent laboratory. Shandra moved to follow, but as Alex passed through the doorway, a wall of pure psychic energy quickly sealed off her escape.

Shandra turned back to see the creature launching a ball of energy at Arlon’s Hydreigon. With a powerful flap of her wings, the Pokemon pushed herself out of harm’s way as the attack soared past and slammed into the wall. “Hydra, Dark Pulse!” Arlon commanded his Pokemon. The Hydreigon unleashed a beam of dark energy at the abomination, punching a small hole in its barrier. The mercenary quickly followed up with a flurry of shots before the hole closed up.

While Arlon had the creature’s attention occupied, Dmitri raised his hand at the barrier blocking the door and emitted a small blast of ghostly energy, which just barely disrupted a small section big enough to fit through. The Romanov ran through the hole into the lab and began following after Alex.

Honing in on Arlon and his Pokemon, the abomination cast H aside and charged up a sphere of aura energy between its hands. The creature then lobbed the ball at Hydra, hitting the Pokemon dead on.

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Shandra ducked as the Hydreigon flew over her, then tried to make her way over to H, who was picking himself up off the floor. I can’t just leave him, she thought as she ran over to the cyborg. She placed a hand on him, then teleported herself into the station’s living quarters, bringing him with her.

“What did you teleport me here for?!” H shouted at Shandra, realizing that he was now in a new location. “I am the last person who needs saving here!” The cyborg immediately turned around and dashed back toward the battle at lightning speed.

As H disappeared from sight, there was suddenly a loud explosion and Shandra felt the air rushing past her. Over the sound of the roaring air being sucked out into space, Shandra could hear a faint scream. Just as quickly as it started, the noise stopped. A few seconds later, Alex ran into the room.

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As the girl moved across the living quarters toward Shandra, the abomination suddenly appeared between them. Alex stopped in her tracks as the monster lifted her off her feet and began choking her as it had done with H. “Your form is fragile,” the abomination’s voice sounded as it built up another ball of aura energy.

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“Alex!” Shandra screamed as the creature unleashed its attack. Thinking quickly, Shandra swapped her position with Alex just before the ball of energy found its mark. Pain shot through Shandra’s body as the sphere made contact, but she didn’t care; if it meant protecting Alex, she would gladly take the pain. As she picked herself back up, Shandra saw Alex running out of the living quarters. She was glad the girl had escaped.

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Before Shandra could follow, Arlon swooped into the room on his Hydreigon. “Hydra, Dragon Rush!” the mercenary commanded. The Pokemon seemed to glow with energy as it tore through the air toward the abomination. The Hydreigon collided with the creature with devastating force, completely shattering barrier surrounding it and knocking it back into the wall. Arlon immediately began firing his pistols at the now exposed monster, landing dozens of hits while his Pokemon lashed out at it with her smaller heads.

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Quickly righting itself, the abomination unleashed a massive blast of aura energy, launching Arlon and his Hydreigon back into the corridor. The dragon Pokemon collapsed in a heap on top of her trainer, knocked completely unconscious by the creature’s overwhelming power.

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Just as quickly as Arlon was blasted into the corridor, H came charging at full speed out of it. The cyborg threw himself at the abomination in attempt to tackle it out of the way to allow his crewmates to escape, but the creature simply lifted him off the ground using its powerful psychic capabilities, rendering him unable to move. In one swift motion, turn creature turned as launched H away with a blast of psychic energy. The cyborg sailed across the living quarters, colliding with Shandra along the way and knocking her to the floor. H continued on through the open door and smashed into the wall in the hallway.

Picking herself up, Shandra spotted Dmitri running up behind the abomination while its back was turned. The Romanov cast out a blast of energy, which struck the creature squarely in its back. Even with its barriers broken, the abomination seemed unfazed by the attack. “You are as pathetic as the rest,” the creature declared as it turned to face Dmitri. With a simple flick of its wrist, the abomination conjured up a blast of psychic energy, slamming the Romanov into the nearest wall.

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With the room clear, the monster then set its sights on Shandra. However, as it closed in, Arlon came charging in on the back of his Aggron. “Iron Tail!” the Red Suns’ leader commanded. His large metallic Pokemon complied, and smashed his powerful tail into the abomination, knocking it away from Shandra. The mercenary then leapt from the Aggron’s back, firing off another salvo of shots from his pistols before landing on his feet.

With the abomination distracted, Shandra seized the opportunity to hop into warp space and prepare an attack. As she moved through the distorted swirls of blue and purple, she could see the battle raging around her. Blurred figures and shapes darted around the battlefield, circling a swirling mass of warp energy in the center that Shandra could only assume was the abomination. She moved towards the mass and dropped herself back into the fray. The monster seemed to know she was coming, and was ready for her as soon as she reappeared. Raising a single hand as Shandra reached out to strike, the creature unleashed a blast of psychic energy, propelling her backwards into the wall.

Shandra’s vision went blank as her head smashed into the hard metal surface. The back of her skull throbbed with pain as she slumped down to the floor. Slowly, her vision cleared and she was able to take in the battle playing out in front of her. She could hear voices issuing commands as H’s Trevenant and the abomination teleported about the room, dodging each other’s attacks. Sparks of energy exploded everywhere as the creature unleashed a pulse of darkness, which collided with the floor where H’s Pokemon had been standing mere milliseconds before.

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“Gigan, X-Scissor!” Dmitri commanded his Scizor before running over to help Shandra up. As the Romanov pulled Shandra to her feet, his Pokemon swooped in at the abomination and slashed at it with her claws.

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“Ironhide, use Rockslide!” Arlon ordered a follow-up attack. His Aggron swiped his tail across the ground launching a pile of debris at the monster.

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While it seemed to have taken quite a beating from the team’s combined assault, the abomination didn’t look like it was showing any sign of slowing down. “The time has come for you meet your end,” it project its thoughts out as it slowly floated toward the team. The whole station began to rumble as it focused its psionic energy.

“On the contrary!” H snapped, somehow enthusiastic about getting his ass handed to him. “It appears our true purpose has only just begun!”

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“Run, now!” Arlon ordered as the lights began to flicker and station’s hull began to rupture. The team recalled their Pokemon and immediately began to retreat as fast as their legs could carry them. The room exploded in a massive psychic blast as the abomination pursued them. Shandra could feel the pull of the vacuum behind her as the monster closed in. “Get to the tram!” Arlon shouted over the roar of the rapidly moving air.

Picking up the pace, the team soon arrived at the platform and rapidly filed onto the tram where Alex stood waiting. “Close the door!” Shandra shouted to the girl.

Alex slammed her hand down on the button but the door remained open. “Nothing’s happening!” Alex cried in dismay as she mashed the button over and over.

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“The blast must have blown the bloody power out!” Arlon shouted as he looked back at the rapidly approaching monster. “H, do something!”

“What do you want me to do?” H asked, confused.

“Just zap the bloody thing!” Arlon shouted back at him.

H shrugged, then fired a bolt of electricity at the console. Please work, Shandra thought as she crossed her fingers. The console sparked for a second, then the doors slid shut and the tram began to move. Shandra would have breathed a sigh of relief, but that monster was still closing in.

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The abomination floated up to the platform and lifted H up with its psychic powers. The tram continued to move forward, forcing the cyborg up against the back window. “Your words are as empty as your future,” the abomination’s voice sounded once more as the tram pulled away. As they passed through the warp gate, H slumped against the wall, free from the abomination’s grasp.

It’s finally over.

As soon as the tram ground to a halt, Arlon wasted no time in issuing commands to his waiting lieutenants. “Kiril, blow the gate!” the Red Suns’ leader shouted. “Now!”

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The Romanov mercenary jumped to his feet and releases all his Pokemon. “Target the gate!” he commanded them. “Use Explosion!” The Gengar, the Weezing, and the two Electrodes quickly moved to the gate, detonated themselves, unleashing a massive explosion. Shandra braced herself against the wall as the blast rocked the entire tram.

When the smoke cleared, Shandra saw Kiril’s Pokemon lying unconscious around the now heavily damaged warp gate. “Throw some charges on that, mate,” Arlon said as he stepped out of the tram. Shandra pushed herself off the wall and followed the mercenary out.

“What ‘appened in zere?” Rena asked, her voice full of concern.

“A bloody nightmare, that’s what,” Arlon told her.

“The tram lead to a remote… laboratory,” Shandra elaborated. “They were conducting horrific experiments there…” She pulled out her Pokedex and started one of the video files she had downloaded while the rest of the team filed out of the tram. Seeing the video, Alex immediately turned her head and moved away from the group.

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“Disgusting,” Rena said upon seeing the scientists conduct their experiments.

“The results of the experiments,” Shandra continues, starting up the final security clip of the Genesect killing the scientists, then destroying each other.

“Here,” H interrupted, pulling out his own Pokedex. “I recorded this with my eyes. It is most intriguing.” The Red Suns turned their attention to the cyborg as he started up his recorded footage of the team’s encounter with the abomination.

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“What the hell is that?” Luke asked in awe upon seeing the creature in action.

“Mr. Silver’s goal, it seems, mate,” Arlon told him.

“That thing is a major threat to everyone in the Galaxy,” Petra chimed in.

“That’s a bloody understatement,” Arlon replied. “But we don’t have the strength to stop it— not on our own. Look, let’s get back to the ships and come up with some kind of plan. We need to act fast.”

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“You’re saying there’s more of these bloody things?” Arlon stared at Shandra in disbelief. Well, that’s just great.

“If Mr. Silver is to be believed, then yes,” the blue-haired girl responded. “His goal is to create an entire generation of them.”

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“Shit. We need to warn the Federation, not that they’d believe us.” The Red Suns’ leader gazed out into space through the Helix’s front viewport. “They only take action against threats they can understand.”

Arlon quickly shifted his gaze to the console and checked the readings. The strength of the warp signature was off the charts, but the spacial distortion was incredibly small. Bloody hell. “That’s no ship, luv. That bloody thing followed us! We need to leave, right now! Get this ship moving!”

While Minerva disengaged the airlock, Arlon radioed the Corsair. “Matt, get ready to jump!”

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“Arlon, what’s going on?” Rena voice sounded on the radio.

“That thing is back; we need to leave!”

“But you are still on the ‘elix.”

“No time! We need to be gone before it arrives. I’ll hitch a ride with the Helix and meet up with you back on Harmonia.”

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Turning back toward the viewport, Arlon saw a flash of warp energy as the abomination appeared. “We need to get out of here,” Shandra said as the Corsair jumped away. She reached for the console, her mark radiating with the powers of the Warp. “I think I know I guy who can help.”

Author’s Notes: This was a really fun chapter to write. I started work on it while waiting for The Other Guy to work on the previous chapter and basically finished it before the last one was done, save for a few bits. There are two things I aimed to do with this chapter. The first was to show the events of Volume 2, Chapter 27 and Volume 3, Chapter 1 as one continuous scene through the perspective of one character and the other was to show how Arlon being there instead of Morgan changed things up.

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The first major difference we see right off the bat is the lack of Federation soldiers since the crew didn’t get the Federation’s help in this Universe. I still wanted to show the importance of Dmitri’s brand from Darkrai so I managed to keep that detail worked in. I think the way I included it still manages to capture the direness of situation they are in now, even without all the dead soldiers to drive home the message. Writing the scene from a character’s perspective also helped with that.

Given that Arlon is there this time, I showed him being a bit more tactical, sweeping each room as they proceeded forward to the end. I also made sure to work in some details about him not knowing everything about what the Helix crew had been up to since he left.

Of course, the major difference in this chapter comes after the Mewtwo reveal. Of all the PCs, Arlon was the most equipped to deal with a boss fight of this caliber, both in terms of what Pokemon he has and his class build. Having a level 50 Hydreigon with the Twisted Power and Polycephaly abilities, combined with Arlon being a Rider, a Hunter, and an Ace Trainer, meant he was dishing out a ton of damage to that Mewtwo. Even without the fact that Dark is super effective against Psychic. That Dragon Rush it used dished out a ton of damage. This is going to really get into the nitty-gritty of the system, but from Rider, Arlon had the Overrun feature which let the Hydreigon add its speed stat to the Dragon Rush along with its Attack Stat, in addition to its Twisted Power ability allowing it to add half its Special Attack. Then its Polycephaly ability allowed it to get off a free struggle attack on it. On top of that, thanks to Arlon’s Hunter class, he has the Pack Hunt ability which let him get off a free hit for each of his Hydreigon’s melee attacks that hit the Mewtwo. Damage.

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That also had some implications for the flow of battle. The Mewtwo prioritized Arlon and his Pokemon as a target, so Dmitri didn’t end up getting knocked out. So then he got to have his Scizor out doing some damage. The party as a whole was just dishing out that much more damage. Being a boss, the Mewtwo had multiple health bars, and we didn’t end up breaking one in the original fight, but the party in this universe sure as hell did. In PTU, bosses will frequently have a special action they perform when a health bar breaks, such as curing statuses or gaining combat stages. In this case, I remember DragonStorm mentioning a while after the fight that the Mewtwo would perform a super powerful attack in the form of blowing up part of the station, so I made sure to work that in. It made the fight that much more intense, and it was the perfect way to close it out.

Finally, we have one scene that’s not part of the continuous flow of the first. This was in place of the scene on the bridge of the Dreadnought in the original chapter. There are two main points here. One is that without having to deal with getting the Federation fleet to do they wanted them to do, the Helix and Corsair were able to escape before the Mewtwo showed up. Without a fleet to play with it probably would have destroyed both ships right away. The other main point is that Arlon was on the Helix and didn’t want to waste valuable time going back to the Corsair, so he’s going to be on the Helix for a little more. That’s right, I found a way to justify Arlon rejoining the party, at least for a few more chapters, so that all the combat encounters are still scaled appropriately, not to mention the fact that this opens up a lot of doors for plot deviation!

That does it for this chapter. As always the Spacemon gang and I will be monitoring the comments to foster discussion and answer any questions. Feel free to give feedback and critiques of the writing so I can improve it for the future, or just leave a comment with what you think about what went down in this chapter or what you think might happen next! You can also revisit past chapters, check out the Spacemon Appendix which is a repository of information on all the lore and characters of Spacemon, or like our Facebook page to stay updated on all things Spacemon! Click here for the next exciting installment of Spacemon: Blueshift!